We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to bring you an important news bulletin: Winter is Coming!!!
Well, thanks, you say, kinda figured that but, wait, I say, listen to our current (and extremely local*) forecast. Remember last winter? Cold? Snowy? Well, get ready for More Of The Same!!!
All right, so I don’t have any fancy-schmancy computer models or even a Radio Shack rain gauge but I do have one key indicator that guides my predictive thinking: Ducks. That’s right, our waterfowl. My birds know they need to pack on the padding if they’re going to run Ol’ Man Winter’s gauntlet so starting sometime in September or October, their dietary needs begin to change. The first year we had them, I didn’t notice anything in particular but the next season, wow. As I describe in my story for Backyard Poultry Magazine (Oct/Nov ’14), last year we saw our girls go from summer svelte to winter waddle in record time.
I think they just broke the record.
Puff & Co. look like they’ve doubled in width since Labor Day when only two weeks ago they were still bikini-ready. Since then, they’ve been digging up the lawn, extracting bugs and even eschewing regular feed in their haste to protein-load on crawly critters. Recently, my daughter and I implemented a Wednesday Weigh-in to see if we could (semi)scientifically track the waterfowl winterization process. But we might have waited too long; the bulk of their gain may already be behind them.**
Oh, and, by the way, I *do not* recommend trying to stay warm, duck-style. For one, it’s probably not a good idea to put on pounds instead of pulling on a parka. And two, you’d have to eat whole a lot of insects to gain that much body fat.
Unless we’re talking gummy worms, of course.
*Our backyard.
**But enough about me.
Copyright 2014, Lori Fontanes
What the Ducks! 
Wow! The ducks are tuned in somehow. I had no idea. How about when winter will END? Can they predict that more accurately than, say, a groundhog?
We take the front end, the woodchuck takes the other. 😉
This reminds me of an old cartoon. A duck saved a turkey from being Thanksgiving dinner by eating all the turkey’s food so the turkey would be too scrawny to eat. It did save the turkey, but the farmer who own both birds decided that duck would do just as well as turkey for the Thanksgiving Day meal. 😉
I remember that one, too!!! Farmers are very resourceful folks. 😉
For a moment, I thought you were talking about down feathers. But, there’s nothing wrong about having some chocolate cake while you watch the snow.
Did someone say “chocolate”? I’m there!!!!
Cooler weather – squeal! I can’t wait. I hate the heat. XOXO – Bacon
P.S. Chocolate – did someone mention chocolate?
Chocolate yeah! But do you want more of that fluffy cold stuff???
Squeals – NO! That fluffy stuff is wickedly cold. Yikes – my little hooves are still trying to warm up from last time. Snorts. XOXO – Bacon
I’m so sorry, Bacon! Everywhere I go, people are saying it’s going to be cold again. Better stock up on hot chocolate *now*!!!
snorts and gulps. I’m so on that now. Off to the kitchen to finagle a box from the pantry to hide in my room. XOXO – Bacon